Press And Journal Photo by Dan Miller -- Dr. Thomas Grosh, far right, and members and supporters of the Middletown Area Historical Society view the layout of an old train setup from a landing in the Grosh house.

In 1982, Dr. Thomas Grosh fled the flooding that had plagued his dentist’s office on Route 230 in search of higher ground in Middletown.

He found it in an old building at 29 E. Main St. The building was historic – dating to 1755. Over the next 30 years, Grosh would discover just how special it was.

In 2012, Grosh decided it was time to retire after 40 years as a dentist. He put the building up for auction, and it was acquired by Middletown Borough for $90,000.

The borough eventually transferred the property to the Middletown Area Historical Society.

At 8:15 p.m. on Friday, March 27, worlds will collide on the floor of the Middletown Area High School gym. The best of Middletown’s basketball past – with a few trash-talking politicians thrown in – will battle the best of Middletown Area High School’s current varsity boys’ and girls’ players in a contest for the ages.

Actually, the game will be played for charity. But ‘for the ages’ better fits the script.

As you can guess from the name, Mayoral Madness is the brainstorm of Middletown Mayor James H. Curry III, a self-confessed basketball junkie. Curry announced the game as part of a mayoral proclamation toward the end of Middletown Borough Council’s meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

Curry intends for Mayoral Madness to become an annual tradition. A traveling trophy will reside for the next year in either Borough Hall or at the high school, providing bragging rights for whomever wins the first contest on March 27.

The trophy is being made at the mayor’s expense by Chris Hughes of Hughes Sporting Goods & Awards in Hummelstown. Hughes’ son is a member of the Middletown boys’ basketball team.

While game proceeds will benefit an as-yet-identified local charity, there’s also some therapy at work for the town.

“My first priority and responsibility is to look out for the people of Middletown,” Curry said. “Middletown has been the brunt of a lot of jokes lately and I take that personally, not only as mayor but [as] a resident. I call the town home as well ... Middletown needed a big morale boost. I hope this is something that can bring the town together.”

Between now and March 27, Curry will assemble a team of about 10 players whom the mayor pledges will be the best that the town has to offer in terms of past basketball greatness.

The team will be co-ed – the roster filled with men and women – as will be the roster of the best boys and girls varsity basketball players that the high school has to offer, Curry said.

Middletown has a rich athletic tradition. The town team will include Blue Raider greats from the past 20 years.

The kids have talent and stamina. But the adults will be no pushover, the mayor promises.

“It’s not gonna be some joke,” Curry said of Mayoral Madness. “It’s a legitimate game and will provide a couple of hours of good entertainment on a Friday night.”

As of now, the only confirmed players on the town team are Curry and Borough Council member Ben Kapenstein. Intense negotiations are underway with the rest.

“When the names are announced, Middletown will know exactly who these people are,” the mayor said. “I would say my main position will be a shooting guard/trash talker. Based on some of the people I have, I am not going to be the center, I can tell you that.”

Admission would be charged with the proceeds going to charity. Students would qualify for a ticket discount. The mayor hopes to draw a big student crowd from the Mr. Middletown competition being held earlier the same night.

Halftime will feature competitions like a 3-point shoot-out, with prizes awarded to the winners. The school’s booster club will sell concessions.

Curry said basketball “has always been a love of mine.” He played on basketball teams from kindergarten through his junior year of high school, until he started running cross-country and track in his senior year. He kept playing basketball on an intramural basis throughout college.

Since moving to Middletown in 2010, Curry has spent most Tuesday and Thursday nights playing basketball at the Main Street Gym. That experience hatched in his mind the idea for a game between the best of the town’s basketball past and its present.

He wanted to do it last year, but things didn’t come together.

The mayor is confident that Middletown residents will come out to support the worthy cause.

In January, Curry on a whim used Facebook to promote a community snowball game. The response blew him away.

“If I can get 80 people for a flag football game in less than 24 hours, I can get a gym packed in a month,” he said.

Dan Miller: 717-944-4628, or
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Middletown Borough Council has approved a resolution that directs Manager Tim Konek to sign an agreement requiring the borough plow state roads in town in return for a reimbursement by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Council’s 5-4 vote for the agreement on Tuesday, Feb. 17 followed strong objections that were voiced by Konek.

Press And Journal File Photo -- The Star Barn with two of its outbuildings at left, the chicken coop and pigpen.

In its new home, the gothic Star Barn would become a rural heritage center and a venue for various events, its new owners told the West Donegal Twp. supervisors on Monday, Feb. 23.

At the same time, two of the Star Barn’s smaller siblings – its smaller outbuildings – will return to their former use.

In about two years, DAS Companies representatives hope the Star Barn is open and hosting weddings and corporate events. When guests arrive, they will have a chance to visit the pigs and chickens the company plans to house in the hog barn and chicken coop within the Star Barn complex.

Tony Scicchitano, vice president and general counsel for DAS, said he drove by the Star Barn many, many times over the years on Route 283 in Lower Swatara Twp. At times he even stopped for pictures of the iconic barn. He never saw inside it until DAS purchased the property in 2014.

Now he hopes that many people will have that chance to see the Star Barn’s glory, inside and out. Once the move is complete, the company plans to open the facility for a few heritage days annually, celebrating the Star Barn, the Ironstone Ranch with its two barns and the Belmont Barn, which will be moved from the Fruitville Pike in Manheim Twp., giving way for Red Rose Commons shopping center. In a schedule West Donegal Twp. Manager Gene Oldham called “aggressive,” DAS plans to have the Star Barn’s move completed by July 2016, with the Star Barn complex completed one year later.

The Ironstone Ranch barn and the Star Barn may accommodate up to 299 people, as fire sprinklers would be required for a larger crowd inside, township officials said. Typical events average about 150 people, Scicchitano said. Up to 400 or even 500 may be on the grounds for a larger event, with an estimated 1,500 people possible for heritage days, when the property would be open to the public.

When the project is completed, the barn would be an event venue with an educational visitors center. The neglected outbuildings, unused and deteriorating for years, would return to regular use for the first time in decades, with pigs in the hog barn, chickens in the chicken coop and equipment storage in the carriage house. Even an outhouse – for decorative purposes only – would join the barn at its new home.

The buildings would be arranged as they are at the Lower Swatara site, with the exception of the chicken coop, which would be oriented as it was on the site prior to being moved due to the construction of Route 283. Supervisors cautioned Scicchitano and Michael Kleinhans, a project manager for DAS, that the process may not move as quickly as they would hope. In the first step, they discussed a DAS draft ordinance for the rural heritage center zoning district, which applies to Ironstone Ranch (the Star Barn’s destination) and DAS’ contiguous property, including the landing spot of the Belmont Barn. David Z. Abel, the founder of Dave Abel Stereo, lives in the northeast part of the site that connects to the barns’ new homes.

The single access point for Ironstone Ranch along Hollinger Lane drew the concern of John Yoder, chairman of the supervisors. He said the arrival of emergency vehicles with the mass exodus of guests from events at both Ironstone and the Star Barn could be problem.

Overnight guests would stay in a replica of the the Star Barn’s farmhouse, which is on a separate property and would not be moved. The farmhouse would match the original with a large kitchen and spring house, not the updated look of the farmhouse today. DAS proposed housing 50 overnight guests using the existing Ironstone Ranch facilities and the replica of the Star Barn farmhouse. Another 50 guests would be permitted on the property with the Belmont Barn.

Kleinhans said the overnight guests are going to be a small part of a larger group using the site. This could be the staff for an organizational event or the bridal party for a wedding.

Yoder balked at plans for housing up to 50 people on the property. “Fifty people under one roof doesn’t seem to maintain the rural character,” he said. Yoder countered with 30 overnight guests per property before saying he could accept 32 to 36.

The limits for impervious ground coverage, areas that do not absorb water, also drew Yoder’s attention. Kleinhans said he thinks the plans will meet the township’s limit.

Kleinhans also said that DAS intends to purchase the appropriate sewage capacity from Elizabethtown Regional Sewer Authority for the project. In addition to the relocated antique agricultural buildings, DAS discussed other plans for the site. The Star Barn complex may get an additional building to house a prep kitchen for catering events. Eventually, DAS plans to construct a larger building with a full kitchen to be leased to a catering company for catering events at the venues and for catering other jobs when otherwise booked.

Finally, Ironstone Ranch would eventually gain a riding club or riding stable whose details are not yet determined.

Submitted photo: Annie Williams with her husband Jessie Williams in an undated photo.

She’s seen so much in 100 years. Joy and grief, life and death. She’s walked loved ones to the cemetery and welcomed great-great-grandchildren to the family.

Through it all, Annie Williams has stressed one thing: “She’s always talking about family staying connected,’’ said Ilecia Williams, a granddaughter. And her family has stayed connected, thanks to her.

Because of her strong faith and compassion for others, she remains the rock of her Middletown family. They still come to visit her Market Street home of more than 60 years, a quaint two-story house where she raised seven children and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren and loved to garden.

A devout member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses for more than 70 years, she held family together through sad and happy times.